Saturday, April 11, 2020

Keep On Working, This Is NOT A Holiday!

We're all counting down to the end of the lockdown in Malaysia.

Newsflash - the countdown has increased for another 14 days!

No surprise, really. Singapore has gone into a 'circuit breaker' mode (trust Singaporeans to come up with the coolest terms). Deaths are still rising - albeit with signs of the curve 'flattening' - in Europe. Most countries worldwide are forcing people to stay home.

Our lockdown initially started on 18 March till 1 April, then extended till 14 April, and now extended again till 28 April.

After a while, we lose track of time. Every day begins and ends the same way. There's little difference between weekdays and weekends anymore.

It's like an extended holiday, right? Less work, more play. HOORAY!

Sleep is for the weak

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio


* * *

Our lives may never be the same again after all this is over.

Some see the silver lining of this crisis. That people will now realise that working from home and e-learning is possible after all. That in the future, we'll all work and study from the comforts of our own homes without even crossing our doorstep.

Sadly, kiddos, this Utopian dream ain't gonna happen - we're mentally not ready yet.

From my own experience, I note that majority of people are not productive at home at all. Maybe they have kids to take care off. Maybe they have cooking recipes to experiment.

Whatever, doesn't matter. The fact is, people are actually lazier during the lockdown.

Oh, I do see some of my industrious friends active on social media hosting webinars, posting articles, and so on. But they're the minority.

The majority? I bet they only get out of bed past noon, and binge on Netflix whole day...


* * *

I finally succumbed to Netflix myself, on Day 21 of the Lockdown.

Why finally, and why after so long?

There are two reasons why.

First, work was not moving. I've done my part. But I can't complete my job because others aren't doing theirs. How frustrating! Somehow, email takes four times longer to respond than usual - despite having less work and more flexibility (no need to commute and clock-in). Such lazy buggers only serve to weaken the case for WFH, rather than reinforce it. How silly!

Second, I ordered some books more than a week ago. And the books have not arrived. The delivery time was supposed to be 3-5 days. Now, they say it's 5-10 days. I guess it's understandable. It's tough to operate a business during this trying times. But what's all this nonsense about supporting SMEs then if they don't deliver? So much for being nice by spurning Amazon to support our local bookstores...

After the lockdown is lifted, people will struggle back to work, and some businesses will go under.

And that's totally fine.

The lockdown weeds out the incompetent and unproductive.

If your brain can't function... if you can't muster enough motivation to do your F-ing job...

You don't deserve to be working or in business in the first place.


* * *

Ironically, those who face the sharp end of the stick may well be the innocent, hard-working people.

Simply because the higher-ups are weak and indecisive.

Kill off the project.

No, not postpone, no need to formulate contingency plans. JUST CANCEL IT!

The Covid-19 pandemic has effectively given a good excuse for people to avoid responsibilities altogether. They're breathing a sigh of relief, inwardly thinking "Thank God we don't have to go through all that shit this year!". They're secretly happy that a lot of workload has been lifted off their shoulders.

The higher-ups have the luxury of money and time. They can wait out. There's always next year. Some can even retire for good.

They don't need things to happen as much as we do.


* * *

But I'm not bitter. I'm passed that. I'm thinking ahead.

If my projects get stalled indefinitely... if I lose my job...

No big deal. Life goes on.

There's a big universe out there. There are lots of many more paths to explore.

I don't need nor want a holiday. I want to keep working on something exciting and rewarding.

No comments :

Post a Comment